Gloves off between mining and conservation groups

The mining and resource sector says it needs to 'set the record straight' in the debate over the health of the Great Barrier Reef.

The Queensland Resources Council has launched a national campaign on the impact of mining-related shipping and dredging on the Reef.

The Council's CEO Michael Roche says it's time to share the real facts about the impact of shipping, dredging and port expansions on Reef health.

"We've had a free run given to the activists for too long and it's time to fight back with facts, science and evidence."

The Council's campaign has started while industry and the community waits for a government decision on plans for a billion dollar port expansion at Abbot Point, which is north of Bowen.

Conservation groups and locals have campaigned against it claiming the reef and fishing businesses will be damaged by plans to dump dredge spoil in the Great Barrier Reef marine park.

Felicity Wishart from Australian Marine Conservation Society says the Resources Council is campaigning now because it's worried the expansion will be blocked as a result of community concerns.

"We've seen the consequences of some of those expansion plans play out in Gladstone where we've had millions of tonnes of dredging and dumping back into the reef waters.

"Very disturbing scenes of fish appearing with lesions, problems with turtles and the fishing industry having to be shut down for three weeks," Ms Wishart says.

Although Ms Wishart says the independent inquiry initiated by the Federal Government hasn't concluded if dredging was responsible for the fish health problems at Gladstone.

Michael Roche says ports and expansions are part of growth and it's been proven they can work alongside the reef, without negative impacts.

He says an independent review on the Hay Point expansion, that happened in 2006, proved this.

"An independent review of that dredging program conducted for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority found that the dredging program met all its environmental goals and did have no significant environmental impact."

He says though it can't be proved there are zero environmental impacts from dredging.

"You can never say there's no impact with any activity in the environment.

"The responsibility is to make sure it's [dredging] done in a way that when that spoil is moved to a new location it does not create plumes that travel and cause problems for the environment," Mr Roche says.

He says it is possible to carry out environmentally responsible dredging plans.

The Marine Conservation Society says the report the Queensland Resources Council uses for evidence was put out in 2009 and the impact of more recent dredging and port expansion work hasn't been included.